Stanford star oncology scientist Ed Engleman helped create the immunotherapy field. Now he wants to shake up neurodegeneration R&D – Endpoints News

Source: Stanford star oncology scientist Ed Engleman helped create the immunotherapy field. Now he wants to shake up neurodegeneration R&D – Endpoints News

By drug R&D standards, Gilead’s move to repurpose remdesivir for Covid-19 and grab an emergency use authorization was a remarkably easy, low-cost layup that required modest efficacy and a clean safety profile from just a small group of patients.

The drug OK also arrived after Gilead had paid much of the freight on getting it positioned to move fast.

In a study by Fred Ledley, director of the Center for Integration of Science and Industry at Bentley University in Waltham, MA, researchers concluded that the NIH had invested only $46.5 million in the research devoted to the drug ahead of the pandemic, a small sum compared to the more than $1 billion Gilead expected to spend getting it out this year, all on top of what it had already cost in R&D expenses.

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Published at Thu, 09 Jul 2020 11:01:00 +0000